1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power supplies and, more specifically, the present invention relates to a switching regulator.
2. Background Information
Electronic devices use power to operate. Switched mode power supplies are commonly used due to their high efficiency and good output regulation to power many of today's electronic devices. In a known switched mode power supply, a low frequency (e.g. 50 or 60 Hz mains frequency), high voltage alternating current (AC) is converted to high frequency (e.g. 30 to 300 kHz) AC, using a switched mode power supply control circuit. This high frequency, high voltage AC is applied to a transformer to transform the voltage, usually to a lower voltage, and to provide safety isolation. The output of the transformer is rectified to provide a regulated DC output, which may be used to power an electronic device. The switched mode power supply control circuit usually provides output regulation by sensing the output and controlling it in a closed loop.
A switched mode power supply may include an integrated circuit switching regulator, which may include an output transistor coupled in series with a primary winding of the transformer. Energy is transferred to a secondary winding of the transformer by turning on and off of the output transistor in a manner controlled by the switching regulator to provide a clean and steady source of power at the DC output. The transformer of a switched mode power supply may also include another winding called a bias or feedback winding. In some switched mode power supplies, the feedback or control signal can come through an opto-coupler from a sense circuit coupled to the DC output. The feedback control signal may be used to modulate a duty cycle of a switching waveform generated by the switching regulator. The duty cycle is defined as the ratio of the on time to the switching period of the output transistor. If there is a large load at the DC output of the power supply, the switching regulator responds to this situation by increasing the duty cycle and thereby delivering more power to the load. If the load becomes lighter, then the switching regulator senses this change through the feedback signal and reduces the duty cycle.
If the load is further reduced and if the power delivered to the DC output cannot be reduced indefinitely, then the DC output voltage increases, resulting in poor output regulation. This unfavorable situation becomes worse if the load is completely removed. To improve the output regulation, a constant load may be connected internal to the power supply. However, because the internal load is always connected, even when there is no load at the DC output, the power supply efficiency is decreased. The power supply efficiency loss is generally due to three components: (1) DC operating power that keeps the switching regulator circuitry operating, (2) the switching losses that are due to switching of the switching regulator output transistor and its drivers--switching losses are directly proportional to the operating frequency, and (3) the power that is consumed by the internal load.
In order to improve efficiency, a switching regulator may use a method called cycle skipping. Cycle skipping method involves reducing the duty cycle as the load decreases, and when the duty cycle is reduced down to a predetermined minimum duty cycle, it alternatively switches for some duration of time and stays idle for another duration of time depending on the load. During this mode, if the load increases very slightly, the output transistor will switch at minimum duty cycle for a short time until the power demanded by the load is delivered and then stop switching again. In theory, the cycle skipping mode decreases the switching losses at light loads since switching occurs as intermittent groups of pulses. Also, cycle skipping eliminates the need for the constant internal load. However, if the groups of pulses occur at a frequency that is within the audio range and the minimum duty cycle is larger than optimum, then the power supply may create an undesirable audio noise. In addition, cycle skipping degrades the output ripple since it typically occurs in groups of pulses and therefore the energy is delivered to the load intermittently.